


Just The Start of Something

by toesohnoes



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Apocalypse, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-05
Updated: 2012-01-05
Packaged: 2017-10-29 00:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/314002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toesohnoes/pseuds/toesohnoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As if fighting zombies wasn't hard enough, now Rick has to try to save his family when the sun disappears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just The Start of Something

The highway in front of them is dry and dusty as they drive towards the horizon. There isn't a single cloud in the sky. Rick's fingers tap against the top of the wheel, while Lori sits beside him and Shane rides in the back with Carl. The boy is asleep but all of the adults are wide awake - watching all sides.

The heat is sticky and close; breathing feels like drowning.

Slowly, black smudges begin to appear on the horizon.

Rick raises a hand from the steering wheel and rubs his eyes, but it doesn't help to clear his vision. "Anyone else see that?" he asks.

Lori turns her gaze from the side of the road to the horizon, her eyes half-closed with disinterest. When she sees the blurs, her spine straightens. "What _is_ that?" she asks.

In the back seat, Shane shakes his head. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before," he says.

Rick slows the car to a crawl. "You think we should go back?" he asks.

Black smudges on the sky might mean nothing at all. They might just be a trick of the light - might be floating rain-clouds. Behind them lies a ravished city and a mass of Walkers. Surely the unknown is better than that.

"If we're careful, we should be alright..." Lori says uncertainly. She glances at him like she's looking for reassurance, but Rick doesn't take his eyes from the horizon. He knows that he's got a family to protect, that he isn't making decisions just for himself any more. Any decision he makes is going to have an impact on the others.

The black smudge seems to quiver and grow with every passing second, spreading and spreading like a virus in the sky. "This really doesn't look too good," Rick says, master of the understatement.

They are on the middle of the highway with no shelter in sight, not even a single tree. Around them, a lifeless wilderness spreads for miles, baked in the silent sun. "We're gonna be fine," Lori says, but she's already reaching behind herself into the back to find Carl's hand. "Don't worry; we're gonna be just fine."

"He's still asleep," Shane tells her, but no one answers.

"I'm gonna pull over," Rick decides. "Just 'til we work out what we're dealing with."

He pulls the car into the side of the empty road, and for a moment they sit there together - breathing, watching, waiting.

The black blot in the sky continues to spread, claiming every blot of blue above them.

"What could do something like that?" Lori asks.

There's no answer.

There's nothing at all.

One hour after its growth started, the blackness reaches the sun. Rick squints to continue watching it, his eyes burning, as the growth halts its pace and wavers around the bright light. It hesitates like it isn't sure of its next move - before, bravely, it surges forward.

The world turns dark.

Rick fumbles on the dashboard for a torch and then flicks it on, aware that he's using precious battery power. "What just happened?" he asks, at the same time as his wife and his friend ask the exact same question.

The sun is _gone_. How would anyone begin to explain that?

*

Without the blessing of daylight, it becomes harder and harder to keep a sense of time. Rick thinks that several days have passed, however, and the sky's blackness shows no sign of withdrawing.

They drive onwards, and try to persuade themselves that things will all work out eventually. They don't know what is going on, but that doesn't matter. They've survived the Walkers. They can surely survive anything that the universe throws at them now.

"At least this time we _know_ we can't do anything about it," Shane says, as they set up camp for the night. They've managed to get a fire going, but the flames have to be kept low. The black-out might be their highest concern, but there are still Walkers out there in the dark. "It's not like we can shoot it."

Rick looks up into the starless black, and shakes his head. "We don't even know what 'it' is."

"I think it's aliens," Carl informs them solemnly.

Rick shrugs one shoulder. "It might be," he says. In a world where the dead can walk, he's not going to turn away from any ideas. "But even if it is, we're just gonna have to wait it out. Won't be long now. It can't be dark forever."

He meets Shane's eyes over the flickering of the firelight, and he sees a disappointed darkness there. He's supposed to be able to save them; it seems like, these days, all Rick has done is disappoint.

"You go and get some rest with your mom, Carl. We've got a long day tomorrow."

"We don't have days any more," Carl complains, but he does as he's told.

Rick sits in silence with his friend and breathes, deep and slow, wondering how he's supposed to get them out of this mess - wondering if he's allowed to be angry that he's even expected to.

*

The temperature falls. Plants die. Creatures wither.

As long as they have cans and water they'll be alright, but that isn't going to last forever. If the sun doesn't come back, there will be no saving anyone.

"I'm so cold," Lori says, shivering inside her woollen layers.

"I know, baby," Rick murmurs. He can't feel his lips or his fingers, not any more, but he's got to keep driving - they've got to keep moving. Doesn't matter where they're heading. Staying still isn't an option, not any more.

"If we find a place, a house, maybe we should stop there," Lori says. "If we could settle down, hole up somewhere - we just need to stay warm, Rick."

Hiding inside somewhere with a heater and a fire sounds like bliss, but when he thinks too hard it makes Rick frown. "What about the Walkers?" he asks. "We've got more than one thing to worry about here."

Lori bites her bottom lip, before she says, "We've not seen any in days."

"That don't mean they're not out there." Rick runs his hand over his face, trying to hold onto what little composure he's got left. "I don't know what we should do."

There are no easy answers, but he's still the one that they are looking to for decisions. With two different threats on the go, he's got to struggle in both directions.

Lori places her hand on his knee as he drives, just a quiet, warm presence to let him know that she's there, that she's in this with him. They survived one apocalypse together. Who's to say that they can't handle a second?

But with the sky black and the dead walking, their odds are getting slimmer - Rick doesn't know if they can take on whatever the world is going to throw at them next.


End file.
